Trentino: Monday

On Monday, Tim went first with Amy into Levico to do a little shopping.  Then Tim, Christine, Maya, and Cora drove into Trento to revisit some of our favorite places.  We started by taking the funicular up to look out over the city. Then we walked into the center of the city and stopped for pizza at our favorite pizzeria. After lunch, we headed to the "flower park," where Maya had plans for showing Cora the teeter-totter.  It was hot, so the trip to the park was relatively short.  After stopping to spot Maya's old school, we hit the "cinnamon gelato" place for some much needed Gelato.  We headed back towards Levico, stopping at the mall to grab some needed supplies and last minute items for dinner.  The girls both checked out the coin operated rides in the basement of the mall.  We headed back to Levico, where Tim prepared dinner for everyone, and Christine, Maya, and Cora joined Amy, Milena, and Viviana for a birthday party for one of Milena's school friends.  Dinner and the time with friends in the evening were immensely enjoyable.

Trentino: Sunday

Sunday was a beautiful day.  We went to the lake in Levico.  We swam.  We had a picnic.  Tim and I went for runs.  We went home.  We had salami and cheese for dinner.  We drank wine.  We slept.  Beautiful.

This is such a lovely place.  The pictures do not do it justice.  It is impossible to be outside and not turn around and see mountains or lakes or both.  It's just beautiful.  I wish I had more pictures of just how picturesque this lake is.  Alas, you'll have to visit yourself.

Trentino: Saturday

Friday, we said goodbye to Audrey in Florence, picked up a rental car, and drove to visit Amy, GP, Milena, and Viviana in Levico.  When we arrived, they had prepared a dinner of fresh fish, potatoes, and tomatoes.  I think there was wine too.  :)

Saturday, we rose a bit late and headed to meet our friends Francesca, Dario, and Gaia for a hike in the woods.  It was beautiful, if more than we thought we'd agreed to.  :)  The three big girls really gelled back again, even with the language barrier between Maya and Gaia (but Milena has become a great translator!).  After the hike, we grabbed some Gelato in Mezzocorona before having dinner at a delicious restaurant just out of town.  It was so much fun to catch up with friends!

(I like this picture even though I don't know how Tim did it or if it was intentional. But it's pretty much what the hike looked like to me. I don't know if it was the elevation or what, but I had a rough time.)

Yes, that's a Texas girl in shorts and a short sleeve shirt holding a giant snowball.

Perugia: Thursday

Thursday morning, we wandered through a couple more churches in Perugia (specifically so we could more carefully view the works of stained glass that we had learned more about at the museum).  After a quick lunch of pizza, we caught the train back to Florence for Audrey’s flight out on Friday morning.

Assisi: Wednesday

On Wednesday, we went back to Assisi.  We started by taking a taxi from the train station to the Rocco Maggiore, the fort/castle that overlooks the whole of Assisi.  After spending the morning exploring the area in and around the castle, we wandered down into Assisi proper for a delicious lunch.  We spent the afternoon meandering through Assisi, shopping, looking at buildings and churches, and just enjoying the city.  After this exploration, we looked at the train station from the hill and decided to walk back to it (about 4 kilometers, I think).  It was, luckily, all down hill.  It was a nice walk, though quite hot and not particularly shady.  We checked out one more enormous church just down from the train station before catching the train back to Perugia.  For dinner, we tried out a restaurant with beautiful views stretching from Perugia to Assisi.  The views were gorgeous, and the food was tasty (the service was a bit lackluster).  We headed back to the hotel to get packed up to depart Umbria.